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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Last Sunday was the 43rd annual road race hosted by Dunboyne AC.
The weather was surprisingly warm. The weekend before had been 6-8C with rain, but Sunday was around 19-20C with no sign of even a breeze.
A few of us met up before the race in the Community Centre to get our bib numbers and t-shirts and then strolled out to the start line.

Even before the gun went off it was pretty warm! I did a short warm up run and we chatted with the other 1,000 or so runners/joggers/walkers. I should have elbowed up the crowd a bit nearer the line, but I was too busy chatting.
Once we had started, it took me about a minute to get over the start line and start running. We ran out past the Dunboune Castle Hotel and out onto the bypass. Even there there wasn't a breeze to be found and you could feel the heat coming up from the road. By this stage I had caught up to most of the people I was going to catch, and only reeled in a few more for the rest of the race.
At the half way point there was a fantastic sight - a water station with cold water! I actually came to a total stop while a cup was filled for me, drank half it, poured the other half over my head and got going again. This section was partly in the shade on the way back to the village due to trees and it was very welcome. Getting back to the main crossroads was hot again. We ran past the finish line and the community centre and left through a housing estate to come back around to the start line.
The heat was really getting to me by now but I kept the pace up. Dunboyne is an unusual course, being a figure of eight, so running back to the crossroads my wife was on the far side of the dividing fence and saw me coming close to the finish line when she had about 2-3k left.

I managed to overtake a couple of more runners towards the end but was delighted to finish! The water and fruit given to each of us at the end was badly needed. We met up as a group at the end, but sadly we forgot to get a group photo - next time.
Congrats to all who ran, jogged or walked the race!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Details for the Events for each age group are on a previous post, 2 posts down please check out the events for your child.
Following the traffic experienced the last night we're going to meet at the track now at 6pm to leave at 6:10.
Please again, plan for the night, it is March and while the weather has been good it is still cold in the evenings. Insist on jackets hats etc while they are not competing and get them wrapped up warm straight after their events, make sure all spectators are warm also hats gloves heavy jackets etc. Bring drinks and snacks, water, bananas,fruits, sandwiches, yogurts, a flask with hot water for a cupasoup/coffee for yourself to help make the night as pleasant as possible. If you have issues with standing for a long time bring a fold up chair and we might set you down by the long jump to keep a log of how are athletes are doing :)
We had a fantastic turnout last week and are looking forward to another great night. See you there..

Friday, March 23, 2012

As we are trying to raise funds for various equipment for the club we have decided to try our hand at BraveForce! This is "a modern purpose built 7.5km Army Assault Course" just off the N2 north of Ashbourne. We have set the date for April 21st at 9pm.
Everyone can attend - once you are over 16*.
The cost is €40 per person, will all proceeds going to our Athletics Club to make it better for us all to enjoy.
Places are limited, but the fun (and mud!) is not.

*If you are between 16 and 18 you will need a parent/guardian's written permission.

Rules: 1. Juveniles can only compete in their age group.
2. Max. two events per athlete.
3. Section A club’s best 20 scores to count from each leg.
4. Section B club’s best 10 scores to count from each leg.
5. Maximum two attempts at each height in high jump.
6. Junior Senior & Masters Field events take place at end of night
Further League Dates: 25th April, June 27th

Note:
Places on Meath AAI T&F League Team will be based on performances in Meath Championships & Inter Club League
For More Information Contact: Brendan Meade 01 8412107 / 087 2533113
email: bmeade@iol.ie

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

What a brilliant night of athletics at Claremont tonight. Well done to all the Athletes and their parents who turned up tonight on a beautiful spring evening.
There was a little bit of a delay to proceedings due to the meet and train group exiting the car park as all the clubs were trying to get in, but this was well managed and by 7:15 the first events were underway. All the juvenile events were finished by 9:10 with the junior senior and masters 1500m events finished by 9:25.
Our athletes did themselves and the club proud with everyone giving 100%.
It was brilliant to see the numbers from the club there and to see how well they all did.
We're all looking forward to seeing how we scored on the night and I'll be posting the day 1 results up as soon as I get them.
Thanks to the Meath County Board and all the organisers who worked to make the event run so smoothly.
Preliminary Scorers from Ratoath, please feel free to correct by contacting me if your son or daughter is missing from this list. As far as we are aware the top 8 finishers in each event score for their teams.
Fionn Drummond U9
80m- 1st
Ball Throw- 1st

Kyle Witter U9
80m- 3rd
Ball Throw- 5th

Aimee Doherty U9
80m- 3rd

Molly Keane U9
80m – 5th

Tom Kilgannon U10
Long Jump- 1st
300m- 1st

Aoife Rutherford U10
300m- 3rd

Ciara Coffey U10
300m 5th

Orla Hayes U 11
100m 4th (Kate Smith made the final but we're not sure yet where she came. To be added later)

Lara Power U12
Shot Putt- 1st

Shauna Coffey U12
Shot Putt – 5th

Fergal Kilgannon
600m- 5th

John Redmond U12
Shot Putt- 5th

Peter Kilgannon U 15
200m- 3rd

Ciaran McCarty U16
1500m- 1st

Peter Doherty our coach and masters sprinter entered the 1500m to try and score some points for the club. He found it tough going finishing well down the field but will make up for it at next weeks sprints :)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Kildalkey 5 miler (8k)
I did this race last year with my BIL, who is a member of the hosting club (Fr Murphy's AC). I had stomach cramps and had to walk parts and finished in 38:43. This year we had cooler temps (6-8C) and it was raining on and off. This would be my first road race of the year and my longest race since the Dublin HM last September. As I'm only getting back to running, I was hoping to run the whole way and if possible, beat last year's time. As I jogged from the Kildalkey Community Centre to the start line (about 1k) I had a few runners ask me where the start line was. Nice to be the "old dog" at a race!
I did my warmup run and took shelter for a minute under a tree during the rain. Then all 127 of us lined up and headed off on the wet roads and boreens. I'm really getting to like the smaller races, there's a lot of character and friendliness to them. Some of the narrower roads had large puddles the whole width of them. The faster runners would barrel straight through (you could tell who they were at the end due to the mud splashes up to their waist!), but us mid-pack runners ran up on the grass. The pack thinned out pretty quick, and after a while I had two runners in front of me that I never caught or lost.

After the 2k mark or so I stopped looking at my garmin and I didn't look at it again until I went over the finish line. As the end of the race drew closer, I could hear the announcer over the PA system, so I brought my pace up a bit. Then I turned a corner and the line was in sight and sprinted the last 50m or so. Going over the line I got 38:10. It would have been good to get under 38mins, but as I was 33sec faster than last year, in worse conditions, I'm quite happy. Great refreshments to be had in the Community Centre afterwards and lots of different clubs in attendance.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Meath Primary Schools Cross Country

Congratulations to all athletes who completed last Friday in the Meath Primary Schools Cross Country which was held in Fr. Murphy’s Athletic Club in Athboy. There was great participation in the event this year with 593 children from Primary Schools across the County. Ratoath AC Athletes had a good day with Aoife Rutherford and Aimee Doherty coming in 2nd and third respectively in the Girls First & Second Class 400m event, the girls also picked up a team medal for St. Pauls National Schools, coming in Second. Zara Kane and Rachel Doherty also had a strong run coming in 22nd and 23rd respectively in the Girls Third & Fourth Class 600m event, Daragh Casey also ran well in the Boys Third & Fourth class 600m event.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

It might have been the wettest few hours this year but in our first year in the Ratoath Parade we had a great turn out of athletes and their parents. Special thank you to everyone who turned out to support us. Thanks also to Paul Flynn from Flynn Signs and Display www.flynns.ie for designing and producing our great banner, and finally thank you to Ratoath Chamber www.ratoathisalive.ie for organising the parade.

We're all looking forward to a great year of Athletics and to returning back for next years parade.Could everyone who got a singlet please make sure they are returned by this Tuesday as we need them for a competition on Wednesday evening.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

For those of you looking for something to do after the Ratoath St Patrick's Day parade, the Fr Murphy's AC annual 5 mile road race starts at 2pm in Kildalkey. Registration can be done on the day up to 1:30pm in the Kildalkey Community Centre.
Joggers and walkers welcome.
This was a great race last year and is on a very flat course. Loads of tea/coffee, biscuits and cake after too!
(I can't find their website, but if I do I'll update the post with a link)

I'll be running an extra training session this Friday from 7:15-8:15pm for those athletes who would like to get an extra session at the long jump. We'll be concentrating on the run up getting everyones distance and number of strides and then on the final actions in the air and landing. Looking forward to seeing you there. Tom

Details below of the Meath Interclub Track and Field league Day 1. Competition starts at 7pm and should be finished for the juvenile athletes by 9pm. As you can see all the events bar the high jump and 1500m for some of our athletes are events that we've been training for over the last few months and this would be a great early opportunity to get some experience in a competition. Teamer texts will be sent out soon as a reminder...

Programme
Day 1

Boys
& GirlsBorn

U9100mBall
Throw2004

U10300mLong
Jump2003

U11100mBall
Throw2002

U12600mShot
2001

U13200mLong
Jump2000

U141500mLong
Jump1999

U15200mHigh
Jump1998

U161500mShot1997

Junior, Senior
& Masters Events 9.00pm

1500m
& Discus.

Rules: 1. Juveniles can only compete in their age group.

2.
Max. two events per athlete.

3.
Section A club’s best 20 scores to count from each leg.

4.
Section B club’s best 10 scores to count from each leg.

5.
Maximum two attempts at each height in high jump.

6.
Junior Senior & Masters events take place at end of night

Further League Dates:March 30th, April 25th
& June 27th

Note:

1.Places on Meath AAI T&F League Team
will be based on performances in Meath Championships & Inter Club League

Monday, March 12, 2012

Here's welcoming all members who would like to participate in the Parade to join us at 11:15am at Corbolis (beside La Bucca) on St Patricks day. If you have a club top, hoody, or hat please wear them. A Teamer Text will be sent out this morning Tues 13th please reply if you will be joining us. Looking forward to a great day.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

We've been asked to give you this information. Best of luck to everyone competing.

Ratoath/Rathbeggan Community Games Swimming Gala 2012 is to be held on
Sunday 25th March, 2012 at Coolmine Swimming Pool (near Powercity Store),
D. 15 from 5pm to 7pm. Under 6 to Under 16 age groups. Swimmers of all
levels welcome. Registration on the day at 4.45pm, registration fee €2. Contact Catherine 086 8466495.

Monday, March 5, 2012

All reports back from the Bohermeen 1/2 Marathon and 5km Fun Run were very positive with a large crowd and fair, if breezy, weather contributing to a great atmosphere. Keith Heffernan a new member this year in Ratoath, Karen Kinane and Eimear Griffin ran the half marathon in 1hr 31 for Keith and 1hr 44 for Karen and Eimear. Great running by the 3 of them.

Anne Marie Mahon coach of the Mon and Fri Fit4Life sessions brought Breeda Delanty, Barbara Fennessy, and Hazel O'Connor out for their 1st 5km run which they were delighted to run for the entire distance. Well done to them all and I'm sure we're going to be seeing them hitting the roads and trails for the remainder of the Meath Running Events this year.
Special Thanks to Bohermeen AC and all their volunteers for another well run event.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

This is an exciting development from Athletics Ireland for all Under 13 and Under 15 (born 1999,98,97) AAI Registered Athletes in Dublin and Leinster which is open to any young person in this age group and is to help young athletes develop an overall feeling for athletics. Starting 10th Dec from 9:30-12:15 Bart Rogers development officer says "we believe it is important to give athletes the knowledge needed to compete in all events and we hope some of these athletes may undertake multi-events as the way forward in athletics under Kieran Stout who is the Multi-events Coordinator." Details of the Dates and Times below. If you need further info please contact Bart Tel;0872696577E mail: bart@athleticsireland.ieAAI Regional Development Squad u13-u15Overall Structure:For all AAI registered club/school athletes u13 (1999)-u15 (1997) in 2011 ages-Day 3 (Jumps & Endurance/Walks)-Day 4 (Speed, Throws, Jumps, Endurance)-Day 5 (Testing Day & Guest Speaker)Dates:-Saturday March 3rd Morton Stadium, Santry-Saturday March 31st Morton Stadium, Santry-Saturday April 21st Morton Stadium, SantryDaily Timetable 3:-9.30am Registration-10am Dynamic Warm Up-10.30am (Group A- Jumps and Group B- Endurance)-11.15am (Group B- Jumps and Group A- Endurance)-12.00-12.15pm FinishDaily Timetable 4:-9.30am Registration-10am Dynamic Warm Up-10.30am (Group A- Jumps, Group B- Endurance, Group C- Throws, Group D- Speed)-12.00-12.15pm FinishDaily Timetable 5:-9.30am Registration-10am Introduction Talk (Plan for all 5 sessions, introduction of coaches)-10.15am Dynamic Warm Up-10.45am Start of testing (As per day 1)-12.00 Guest Speaker-12.15pm FinishCoaching:-There will be an experienced Head Coach for each event with support from some assistant coaches and personal coaches. Personal coaches and any coaches in Leinster & Dublin coaching young athletes aged u13-u15 are very welcome to attend all sessions and sit in and ask questions etc.Entry Guidelines:-Open to all AAI registered club/school athletes aged u13 (1999)-u15 (1997) in 2011 ages, NO younger!!!Application Process:-Simply come along on the day and pay €5 per session